It's the second last day of the school holiday. My entire holiday was mainly spent sleeping, eating, playing squash, tennis, swimming etc with parents, sometimes with Jean. Hmm what else. Oh, homework, preparation for church activities, playing, shooping for violin and piano, violin practice, church, meetings.. December was quite relaxing cus my parents were at home most of the time. Mom doesnt have to work in the holiday cus since she is working at SBC (bible college), so she's on holiday too. Dad, frantically taking leave.
Yesterday's yesterday was spent mainly playing. Woke up around 10am and then went for a swim with my parents. Jean doesn't usually wake up till 1 or 2pm. Swam my usual 20+ laps because I only bother counting till 20, the rest of the time, I just swim back and forth with dad while waiting for mom to complete her swim. Relaxed a bit when everyone was done, then went up. Then we finally went out for high tea at lao bei jing when Jean woke up. Then, walked around and shopped before going home. Dad decided to take Jean and I out cycling. Mom cannot cycle and doesnt ever want to, so she went jogging. We cylcled around the thomson, amk, bishan area. When we reached yio chu kang road, I just realised it looked familiar (near jy's house). The we went cycling around lower pierce reservoire. Upper pierce is the challenging one with ups and downs. I mean, very up and very down. In fact, everywhere is filled with ups and downs. If you go up, you have to go down. And dad managed to queeze one of his life lessons into this. Work hard (ups) and you will be rewarded (downs). Jean and I nodded our heads in agreement. Then his physics brain suddenly activated. So a few seconds later, he added, "That's unless you have a motor...". We went to buy back dinner around Bishan North, then cycled home. And then I did violin practice at night. After that, went to play with Jean. She played piano, I did violin. It was quite fun just "jamming". We played till around midnight. But so far no complaints from neighbours yet. Maybe they understand it's the holidays now.
Yesterday, was another normal holi day. My parents went to salvation army to meet their new batch of Chinese students. I don't remember what I did. Oh I remember now. I remember I read a book. Tuesdays with Morrie. Since it was a present, I had to read it. Then finished up Musicophillia. And finished playing the whole career mode of Need for Speed Carbon in an hour. I think I am addicted to Car jack Streets (it's the grand theft auto 4 version for handphone). Earned about $70k already, but I the target is 1 million. I don't know what to do. Either I delete the game or I die next year cus it's played in real time. It's going to eat up a lot of my time.
Moving on, I shall test my memory. 2008, as far as I can remember:
Jan:
- start of school
- started my job in TF comm as logistics/publicity
- xjls passed away
Feb:
- CNY (ok I think I will ignore all holidays though they were something I looked forward to)
March:
Err... I really can't remember
- I think, my great grandmother pased away
- Oh, Polka
April:
Cannot..
May:
10: cousin shao en turned 1
11: my birthday
- nai2's birthday
- violining in SBC, when Moody Bible Institute choir arrived in Sg, had the worship thing. they had their choir and hand bell performance
June:
- holiday
- church retreat
- cca during holiday? I have no idea why I remembered that
- holiday trip wth family to Da Nang, Vietnam
July:
err... school started again
- violin exam
August:
- 08/08/08: cousin Ashlyn was born
- National day (oh ya, no holidays allowed, but nvm), aka church family day. forgot where we went, but it was fun
- Cantabile concert (strings)
- ms tan left
- Got to know ck terrorist and joycelyn, police
September:
- Ye2's birthday
- start of EOY
October:
- Jerome turned 4
- Continuation of EOY
- Boring post exam activities
November:
- Head start
- holiday trip with family to Tokyo
14, 15,17: uncle Edwin (dad's younger bro), Jean's and Dad's birhtday
29: Jensen turned 10 (which means I'm getting old)
December:
- Mom's birthday
- Still have cca
- Christmas thing at church
- Christmas dinner with family and extended
- grandparents, jeansen, jeome and their parents off to Hokaido for holiday
- Preparation for watchnight service later today
I noticed I start remembering more towards the late part of 2008. A sign of ageing maybe. Later today, watchnight service. Got to go do violin practice now. Have to be in church by 4.30pm for dry run. Timothy fellowship is in charge of the service this year. Jean and I in charge of TF ppt, countdown, prayer etc. The funny thing is, my whole family is working on ppts for the same event. Dad - Chinese ministry (students). Mom- Sunday School. Jean and I- TF.
The End for 2008. I don't think I'll have a lot of time to post when school starts again. I don't want the holiday to be over. Not because I want to post..
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
finale
Today, had church as usual. The only thing more unusual was that nai2, ye2, jensen, jerome, and their parents were not around. When they go on holidays, their maid is passed over to my other grandmother (mom's side) to take care of. Or maybe it's the other way round. So the maid, Dang, followed my grandmother to church on sat and sun. We met her today and took her out for lunch, by order of grandparents. Nai2 specially called me to remind me to remind dad about Sunday in case he forgot (you see the genetic trends...). Dad's sermon today during combined Sunday school was rather good for the kids. never heard them so quiet before. Mom and dad had lunch with their students (er, they and a few others mentor some Chinese students in Singapore on scholarship to study in the medical area, but of course the main objective is evangelistic). At first they wanted to have high tea with them but then it was pushed back to lunch. So we went to a restaurant, ate, then finished eating. After that, we decided to to go Gramercy to get my violin since now my parents were free in the afternoon, ya, like a family event. We brought Dang along cus we travelled to East, the Southwest.
I picked my violin, tried it out a bit and made the final decision. The violin came with a normal case, normal bow and rosin, which was not very normal. The rosin comes in a pouch with some weird name, and then wrapped in some cloth. I think it's the cake type, looks really appetising. And this properly ends my journey on a search for a new violin. Coming up next: Bow search. Dad was busy picking a beginner piano book for Jean to have fun with. They spent a long time picking the perfect book.
Then we went to drop Dang off at telok blangah, helped switch on the gas etc, then went home. I polished the violin a bit and bid farewell to my old one. I had to spend about 10 minutes putting rosin on the new bow before I could hear a more or less solid sound. Now, the storage at home is like a violin graveyard. There's a 1/8, 1/2 (no, i think it was exhumed cus we lent it to gracia), 3/4, 1 (the one I just buried). And not to mention, another 1 rotting in Jean's room. I wonder if this is a healthy, non-ageing, violin population.
Did violin practice at night. Halfway, I heard someone playing the piano. I got distracted and kept listening to it. As usual, I cannot multi task. So I ended up tripping over the notes in the concerto. Mozart should have jumped out of the Milky Way by now. Turns out dad was busy teaching Jean piano. Pre-piano lesson tutorial? I think he cannot teach, like me. He played the thing once for Jean, looked at her blank stare, then played again. Then he would get chased off the piano and Jean would enthusiastically play the thing. There would be many pauses and constipated sounds in between, but there was always a nice perfect cadence at the end where my mom and I could have a sigh of relief.
Ah that's all for now. Quite tired.
I picked my violin, tried it out a bit and made the final decision. The violin came with a normal case, normal bow and rosin, which was not very normal. The rosin comes in a pouch with some weird name, and then wrapped in some cloth. I think it's the cake type, looks really appetising. And this properly ends my journey on a search for a new violin. Coming up next: Bow search. Dad was busy picking a beginner piano book for Jean to have fun with. They spent a long time picking the perfect book.
Then we went to drop Dang off at telok blangah, helped switch on the gas etc, then went home. I polished the violin a bit and bid farewell to my old one. I had to spend about 10 minutes putting rosin on the new bow before I could hear a more or less solid sound. Now, the storage at home is like a violin graveyard. There's a 1/8, 1/2 (no, i think it was exhumed cus we lent it to gracia), 3/4, 1 (the one I just buried). And not to mention, another 1 rotting in Jean's room. I wonder if this is a healthy, non-ageing, violin population.
Did violin practice at night. Halfway, I heard someone playing the piano. I got distracted and kept listening to it. As usual, I cannot multi task. So I ended up tripping over the notes in the concerto. Mozart should have jumped out of the Milky Way by now. Turns out dad was busy teaching Jean piano. Pre-piano lesson tutorial? I think he cannot teach, like me. He played the thing once for Jean, looked at her blank stare, then played again. Then he would get chased off the piano and Jean would enthusiastically play the thing. There would be many pauses and constipated sounds in between, but there was always a nice perfect cadence at the end where my mom and I could have a sigh of relief.
Ah that's all for now. Quite tired.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Violin and Piano Adventure
Yesterday, Jean invited Eleanor over to our house to play. Well, not exactly our house. They went down to cycle at Bishan park, then played basketball. I think they started very early. When Jean came back to borrow my basketball, everyone in the house was still sleeping. And this is usually the best time to ask me to agree to anything. Jean chionged into my room and begged rather loudly for the ball, and I gave in within 2 seconds. I think they planned a festive season weight loss programme for themselves. A while later, the rest of the house woke up. Dad and I went to play squash, mom went to the gym. Only about 30 minutes into the game, I had to stop for a while to rest because I could feel the symptoms of thalasemia minor (cannot see properly, whole muscle gets very tense, feel like fainting). After a short break, I recuperated, and we continued our game. After that, dad and I went swimming. Mom met us for swimming a while later. My dad and I prefer sports like swimming to sports that require the head to be above the heart (tennis, squash, jogging, violin practice?) cus then there'll be enough blood flow to the head, won't feel the thalasemia minor. Btw, thalasemia minor, is a disease of the blood. It's genetic, passed down from my great grandmother, to grandfather, dad, me and jean. Once I was on a long bus ride and there was no seat, was sweating a lot of cold sweat all the way and jean was helping me panic.
After that, my parents and I went out. Jean and Eleanor went to watch a movie. We went to a violin maker's shop at river valley road. Went to try more violins. The guy laid out some violins and asked me to eliminate the ones I didn't like. I was left with 2 at the end. He later revealed good and bad news. I eleminated the cheaper ones. Well, the ones left were an 11k German and 12K french, 80 and 50-60 years old respectively. I liked those 2 equally. But then they don't come with the maker's certificates, and the extremely old one is anonymous. And the guy isn't going to touch up the violin if I do happen to buy it.
Then, we went to Yamaha at Thomson Plaza. These 2 weeks searching for piano, it has practically been like, yamaha kawai yamaha yamaha kawai yamaha kawai yamaha yamaha. It's really torturing for the brain, trying to listen for quality and worth. It's made worse when ur shopping for a violin at the same time. So many sounds to remember. We evenatually settled for a Yamaha U3 piano. Xiu lan ls (from church, also a piano tuner, so she shld have seen quite a lot of pianos, and worked in Yamaha) recommended it cus she says the inner parts are more refined, and after purchase service is better. She managed to get us to talk to her manager. That's also why my parents chose yamaha - cus she can help us get more value for the piano. It cost us 10k to get at least a decent piano which we all can agree to tolerate with for the next few years. Sigh.. So different from violin shopping. A 5k piano is like a 1k violin I think. So the exchange rate is about 10k piano = 2k violin.
Today, my parents and I went to play tennis at 7am. Jean was still lost in her dreamland. I don't know why I had the determination to wake up. In the afternoon, the same 3 of us went to look at violins at gramercy again. My teacher tried a Czech and Itlian violin asked me to go consider. The Czech one cost about the same as the piano. The Italian one was really superb. But the only problem was that it cost 23k, not quite a possible option. But I enjoyed playing it. It was quite nice and rich.
After that, went to Synwin cus it was just nearby. My original intention was to buy violin polish and cloth. But then my parents kept insisting that I try out Synwin's violins. I, on the other hand, was strongly objecting because my brain was not going to be able to hold on to more sounds. But then, objection overuled, I had to try about 5 more violins. They ranged from about 6-41k. The 41k was the best. But it's impossible. It's an Italian, made in 1967 (mom specially likes that year..), very even tone and it has that cutting edge, can penetrate. But that will be for me to dream about. The guy ( I think he's the synwin manager there cus he's the most smartly dressed) gave me a very long lecture on violins. My pea brain was like a bomb ticking and ready to explode. Information overload. My next best option was a 9.2k french/german i really cannot remember now. Made in 2007. Same as the gramercy Czech one. So we finally left Synwin, and I needed to recall wat the Czech souded like but my 1MB brain just couldnt remember anymore. So we had to go back to gramercy and I tested the upper E string for power. The one in Synwin declined in power on ascending on the E string. The Czech one sounded quite good to me, good penetration, edge, balance. So for now, I am settling for the Czech. Going to wait till ms kwok comes back to sg before confirming it. Now that the violin is more or less settled, there's still the bow to think about. Sigh...
After that, my parents and I went out. Jean and Eleanor went to watch a movie. We went to a violin maker's shop at river valley road. Went to try more violins. The guy laid out some violins and asked me to eliminate the ones I didn't like. I was left with 2 at the end. He later revealed good and bad news. I eleminated the cheaper ones. Well, the ones left were an 11k German and 12K french, 80 and 50-60 years old respectively. I liked those 2 equally. But then they don't come with the maker's certificates, and the extremely old one is anonymous. And the guy isn't going to touch up the violin if I do happen to buy it.
Then, we went to Yamaha at Thomson Plaza. These 2 weeks searching for piano, it has practically been like, yamaha kawai yamaha yamaha kawai yamaha kawai yamaha yamaha. It's really torturing for the brain, trying to listen for quality and worth. It's made worse when ur shopping for a violin at the same time. So many sounds to remember. We evenatually settled for a Yamaha U3 piano. Xiu lan ls (from church, also a piano tuner, so she shld have seen quite a lot of pianos, and worked in Yamaha) recommended it cus she says the inner parts are more refined, and after purchase service is better. She managed to get us to talk to her manager. That's also why my parents chose yamaha - cus she can help us get more value for the piano. It cost us 10k to get at least a decent piano which we all can agree to tolerate with for the next few years. Sigh.. So different from violin shopping. A 5k piano is like a 1k violin I think. So the exchange rate is about 10k piano = 2k violin.
Today, my parents and I went to play tennis at 7am. Jean was still lost in her dreamland. I don't know why I had the determination to wake up. In the afternoon, the same 3 of us went to look at violins at gramercy again. My teacher tried a Czech and Itlian violin asked me to go consider. The Czech one cost about the same as the piano. The Italian one was really superb. But the only problem was that it cost 23k, not quite a possible option. But I enjoyed playing it. It was quite nice and rich.
After that, went to Synwin cus it was just nearby. My original intention was to buy violin polish and cloth. But then my parents kept insisting that I try out Synwin's violins. I, on the other hand, was strongly objecting because my brain was not going to be able to hold on to more sounds. But then, objection overuled, I had to try about 5 more violins. They ranged from about 6-41k. The 41k was the best. But it's impossible. It's an Italian, made in 1967 (mom specially likes that year..), very even tone and it has that cutting edge, can penetrate. But that will be for me to dream about. The guy ( I think he's the synwin manager there cus he's the most smartly dressed) gave me a very long lecture on violins. My pea brain was like a bomb ticking and ready to explode. Information overload. My next best option was a 9.2k french/german i really cannot remember now. Made in 2007. Same as the gramercy Czech one. So we finally left Synwin, and I needed to recall wat the Czech souded like but my 1MB brain just couldnt remember anymore. So we had to go back to gramercy and I tested the upper E string for power. The one in Synwin declined in power on ascending on the E string. The Czech one sounded quite good to me, good penetration, edge, balance. So for now, I am settling for the Czech. Going to wait till ms kwok comes back to sg before confirming it. Now that the violin is more or less settled, there's still the bow to think about. Sigh...
Sunday, December 21, 2008
christmas
I am currently very sleepy but I'm going to have to at least keep my eyes open till late tonight. Going to nai2 and ye2's house, which would also equal Jensen, jerome and their parents house, for the annual Christmas related dinner. This year, it's earlier than usual cus their whole household will be going to Hokaido for a rather late holiday, so they won't be around during christmas. I think I have been in a rather early christmas mood this year. First, this dinner. Then, the church christmas programme was pushed back earlier, which resulted in receiving christmas cards/presents earlier. Weird. So now, just finished violin practice. Everyone is busy on the com except mom who's busy attacking the turkey.
Yesterday was a record breaking day. Woke up early to go to church for meeting. Mom and dad sent jean and I off to church (or else we'd end up having a morning jog) efore going for their usual jog. We had meeting from 9-4.25. Nearly 7.5 hours, including lunch time. I can't reveal much about the people in the comm (although it is alr quite obvious) or the positions yet. Planned out the whole of next year and got quite a lot of stuff done. There was a lot of funny incidents, eg. xiao jun's bread talk joke (refer to jean's blog). The power of hunger. When we finally ended, Jean and I walked/ran all the way home. The other chimes ppl in the comm didn't need to rush cus they lived further away and were more prepared (brought clothes etc). We took a shower and then thankfully, went to church by car.
We rehearsed a bit first with the choir, then chimes. Jean and I were busy bullying/teasing/assisting Jerome. He was here earlier cus he followed his dad. Louise (another girl jerome's age, whom everyone knows he likes, oh, they're 4 yrs old) had just arrived too. Jean asked him whether he wanted to go play with her instead of getting tortured by us. He just smiled and didn't want to budge (highly rare). Then she dragged him all the way to Louise and tried to start their conversation. In the end both of them seemed so shy like they never spent almost all their Sundays playing with each other. It was very funny watching them. For photos, again, refer to Jean-the-gene.
Then, the actualy thing started. I think the chimes part went pretty smoothly. As far as I know every note I played was correct and we were quite together. Chimes was in charge of the prelude (we played Trepak and Jingle Bell). Before that, we were all chionging make up upstairs (it's always the most dreadful part of this christmas programme, but we've been surviving with it for the past 14+ years i think) and by then it was already about 7.29pm before everyone was ready backstage. Then we quickly rushed a short and rather hilarious prayer before stampeding onto the stage. The little kids were amazing. Halfway throughout 2 of their items, the music (they were using a CD) suddenly died (I dunno why, must ask dad wat he was doing to the sound system up there) and they ended up singing accapella. But wats amazing is that they didn't get stunned and panic up there. They just went "business as usual" and continued watever they were doing. The rest of us watching them were panicing/praying for them.
Today, was and am dead tired. Stayed up till 2am this morning. Jean and I were working on a top secret project. And yes, according to her, thankfully it didn't have so many sides. Today was my class's student-teacher bonding day. My class went to macs and were treated. Good thing it was shi sheng ri today or I am certain I might have just fallen asleep during class.
Some things mom can consider for her Sunday school system:
1. Holiday the next day if Sat was the christmas thingy
2. shi sheng ri (teacher-students day for bonding) more often
Gtg now. I'll decide if I will continue later but I probably wouldnt be alive enough to.
Yesterday was a record breaking day. Woke up early to go to church for meeting. Mom and dad sent jean and I off to church (or else we'd end up having a morning jog) efore going for their usual jog. We had meeting from 9-4.25. Nearly 7.5 hours, including lunch time. I can't reveal much about the people in the comm (although it is alr quite obvious) or the positions yet. Planned out the whole of next year and got quite a lot of stuff done. There was a lot of funny incidents, eg. xiao jun's bread talk joke (refer to jean's blog). The power of hunger. When we finally ended, Jean and I walked/ran all the way home. The other chimes ppl in the comm didn't need to rush cus they lived further away and were more prepared (brought clothes etc). We took a shower and then thankfully, went to church by car.
We rehearsed a bit first with the choir, then chimes. Jean and I were busy bullying/teasing/assisting Jerome. He was here earlier cus he followed his dad. Louise (another girl jerome's age, whom everyone knows he likes, oh, they're 4 yrs old) had just arrived too. Jean asked him whether he wanted to go play with her instead of getting tortured by us. He just smiled and didn't want to budge (highly rare). Then she dragged him all the way to Louise and tried to start their conversation. In the end both of them seemed so shy like they never spent almost all their Sundays playing with each other. It was very funny watching them. For photos, again, refer to Jean-the-gene.
Then, the actualy thing started. I think the chimes part went pretty smoothly. As far as I know every note I played was correct and we were quite together. Chimes was in charge of the prelude (we played Trepak and Jingle Bell). Before that, we were all chionging make up upstairs (it's always the most dreadful part of this christmas programme, but we've been surviving with it for the past 14+ years i think) and by then it was already about 7.29pm before everyone was ready backstage. Then we quickly rushed a short and rather hilarious prayer before stampeding onto the stage. The little kids were amazing. Halfway throughout 2 of their items, the music (they were using a CD) suddenly died (I dunno why, must ask dad wat he was doing to the sound system up there) and they ended up singing accapella. But wats amazing is that they didn't get stunned and panic up there. They just went "business as usual" and continued watever they were doing. The rest of us watching them were panicing/praying for them.
Today, was and am dead tired. Stayed up till 2am this morning. Jean and I were working on a top secret project. And yes, according to her, thankfully it didn't have so many sides. Today was my class's student-teacher bonding day. My class went to macs and were treated. Good thing it was shi sheng ri today or I am certain I might have just fallen asleep during class.
Some things mom can consider for her Sunday school system:
1. Holiday the next day if Sat was the christmas thingy
2. shi sheng ri (teacher-students day for bonding) more often
Gtg now. I'll decide if I will continue later but I probably wouldnt be alive enough to.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Yesterday, I spent the morning sleeping and doing violin practice. I practiced on the 11k disciple violin. It sounds really nice but the neck is wider than the China one, so it's a bit harder to reach around, but still manageable. Till this morning, I still don't know which violin to choose. Though the violins differ in price by nearly 2 times, my parents say they will just get anything that is worth the value. And that makes my decision even more difficult because both have equal advantages and disadvantages.
China:
- Sounds alright
- Neck is less wide, easier to reach notes
- If I don't play the 11k before it, it sounds quite nice
- Set up by Sabo
Vs. (ck - table tennis)
Singapore:
- Sounds super nice
- Neck is wide but still manageable
- Good response
- Set up by Sabo's assistant, so I dunno if it's trustworthy
While practicing these few days, I find myself sympathizing with my neighbors more. After living in this home for about 4.5 years, no one has ever complained about the noise they receive for about 1 hour a day. And no one has ever rang our doorbell to ask us to practice at a certain time only. But the thing is, the house above mine has had new owners about 3 times already. For the first owner, I may be able to understand. The kids were all learning the same piece and so there was continuous Fur Elise throughout my living hours. Jean and I got fed up and decided to open our windows in our rooms and do violin practice. But then ours only lasts an hour. After that, we switch on the keyboard to the max volume and blast out Fur Elise Demo version until we can't stand the noise anymore. We stopped our nonsense after a while and they stopped too.
Went out for lunch with parents. Jean was out with some friends. Then they dropped me off at J8 for theory lesson with another jie ying. Jean came too. Learnt about modulations. It's quite tiring doing all that theory stuff. But then she's super funny. Jean started singing the stuff for the rehearsal when we were walking out and then I asked her to keep quiet but of course it never works. The suddenly jie ying said, "bu yao xia ren" (don't scare other people). I couldn't stop laughing for about 2 whole minutes. In the meantime, mom and dad were waiting so they went to ya kun kaya shop and drank tea. They complained they couldn't sleep last night.
Then after that, mom and dad picked us up to go to church for rehearsal. Actually it only starts at 7.30pm but Chimes decided to go earlier to practice. We reached church at around 5.30pm. While turning in, we saw a fire truck in front of us. It turned in and stopped opposite our church. There was this HDB block and a house on the second floor had smoke coming out. The firemen got off the truck in a hurry and rushed over. The owner wasn't at home so they had to climb up from a ladder to go into the kitchen. The fire was extinguished and the owner came back to look at the mess. The rest of us sat in front of church and watched. We have the best view actually. It was quite interesting. Seldom see firemen in action.
Rehearsal went quite alright. Xiu lan ls came to conduct. It was very hot inside the hall. We didn't use aircon so there was only natural wind or fans which we all stood under whenever we came offstage. Chimes went quite alright too, quite together, at least better than previous rehearsals. The only thing was that we were lacking manpower cus some were away. I think everything is more or less in one piece, ready to go for sat. Jerome was very funny today. He kept trying to pull up his pants cus they were to loose for him. So some of his actions were affected and the rest of us watching were busy laughing at the poor guy. At least we have all already passed the age when we were one of those little children singing and dancing on stage. And come to think of it, chimes is an ageing population. We started when we were around P1-P4 and we are more or less the same people sec2-around 1st year jc/poly age.
Ended up reaching home at 11.30pm cus there were 2 run throughs. I was so thirsty I gulped down the whole bottle of water yuxin's dad gave me in one shot. All I needed next was a shower, a fan and some sleep.
Violin lesson later. Hijacking jy's house tmr.
China:
- Sounds alright
- Neck is less wide, easier to reach notes
- If I don't play the 11k before it, it sounds quite nice
- Set up by Sabo
Vs. (ck - table tennis)
Singapore:
- Sounds super nice
- Neck is wide but still manageable
- Good response
- Set up by Sabo's assistant, so I dunno if it's trustworthy
While practicing these few days, I find myself sympathizing with my neighbors more. After living in this home for about 4.5 years, no one has ever complained about the noise they receive for about 1 hour a day. And no one has ever rang our doorbell to ask us to practice at a certain time only. But the thing is, the house above mine has had new owners about 3 times already. For the first owner, I may be able to understand. The kids were all learning the same piece and so there was continuous Fur Elise throughout my living hours. Jean and I got fed up and decided to open our windows in our rooms and do violin practice. But then ours only lasts an hour. After that, we switch on the keyboard to the max volume and blast out Fur Elise Demo version until we can't stand the noise anymore. We stopped our nonsense after a while and they stopped too.
Went out for lunch with parents. Jean was out with some friends. Then they dropped me off at J8 for theory lesson with another jie ying. Jean came too. Learnt about modulations. It's quite tiring doing all that theory stuff. But then she's super funny. Jean started singing the stuff for the rehearsal when we were walking out and then I asked her to keep quiet but of course it never works. The suddenly jie ying said, "bu yao xia ren" (don't scare other people). I couldn't stop laughing for about 2 whole minutes. In the meantime, mom and dad were waiting so they went to ya kun kaya shop and drank tea. They complained they couldn't sleep last night.
Then after that, mom and dad picked us up to go to church for rehearsal. Actually it only starts at 7.30pm but Chimes decided to go earlier to practice. We reached church at around 5.30pm. While turning in, we saw a fire truck in front of us. It turned in and stopped opposite our church. There was this HDB block and a house on the second floor had smoke coming out. The firemen got off the truck in a hurry and rushed over. The owner wasn't at home so they had to climb up from a ladder to go into the kitchen. The fire was extinguished and the owner came back to look at the mess. The rest of us sat in front of church and watched. We have the best view actually. It was quite interesting. Seldom see firemen in action.
Rehearsal went quite alright. Xiu lan ls came to conduct. It was very hot inside the hall. We didn't use aircon so there was only natural wind or fans which we all stood under whenever we came offstage. Chimes went quite alright too, quite together, at least better than previous rehearsals. The only thing was that we were lacking manpower cus some were away. I think everything is more or less in one piece, ready to go for sat. Jerome was very funny today. He kept trying to pull up his pants cus they were to loose for him. So some of his actions were affected and the rest of us watching were busy laughing at the poor guy. At least we have all already passed the age when we were one of those little children singing and dancing on stage. And come to think of it, chimes is an ageing population. We started when we were around P1-P4 and we are more or less the same people sec2-around 1st year jc/poly age.
Ended up reaching home at 11.30pm cus there were 2 run throughs. I was so thirsty I gulped down the whole bottle of water yuxin's dad gave me in one shot. All I needed next was a shower, a fan and some sleep.
Violin lesson later. Hijacking jy's house tmr.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sounds
Today, my parents and I went down to Sabo's shop. I met ck there cus she went to go pick up her bow. I went there to go test out violins. The violins are all quite nice, one was slightly problematic while the rest were quite well behaved. I had to eliminate from about 7 violins. There was ck around to help me. We have quite similar taste I think. The 20k violin is out of the question. My parents say it's too expensive and considering that there 2 people in the house need a new instrument each (piano + vioin), as well as the lessons that come with it. In the end, I eliminated the rest and was left with 2 violins. One China one and another one made by Sabo's assistant (disciple) in Singapore. The prices are about twice each other. The Singapore one has a really nice sound and what I consider a louder and more open version of the Cheena one. The Cheena one will give my ears a few more years to live and it also sounds not bad.
Sabo let me take home the 2 violins to try further and ask Ms Kwok for opinions. They lent me this case that can fit 2 violins. Quite cool. But then it's quite heavy. Ok, maybe not that heavy compared to ck's 8kg giant she lugged around to Sabo's shop. 60% of my vote goes to the Cheena one. I don't know if I can trust Sabo's disciple's violin so I'll ask my teacher for opinions. But it really sounds quite good.
After that, my parents and I went to Thomson Plaza to look at the Yamaha pianos. So far most people we asked support Yamaha more. But dad and I seem to think Yamaha pianos sound dead. The only good sounding and nice touch one is the Yamaha that imitates the grand piano's functions. German pianos have a nice warm tone but the precision is not as good as Yamaha's, as well as the warranty period etc. Now my parents are deciding between Kawai and Yamaha. I support the Kawai because it sounds nice. but whether it's inner parts are precise and will last is another thing. My parents gave up on German pianos cus it was out of the budget. I think they plan to spend around 10K on us each. I think it's reasonable enough, considering they have long term lessons to pay for. I will just aim to work and earn money to get a 50k violin. That means 50 years later.
After Thomson Plaza, we went to Parkway to look at Kawai pianos. Out of my family, dad's the only one who can play the piano reasonably well. So we let him just do the playing and we throw in comments when neccessary. It's really a mystry how he can still play. He never touches our lousy keyboard at home and manags to play for church. I am impressed. If I don't touch the violin for a week, I lose some touch already. After 3 consecutive days of listening to pianos and violins (today), my ears are really dead tired and my brain is beginning to hate music.
I practiced using the Cheena violin at night. It sounded good and the response was quite fast. I found it much easier to play. But the only thing that's worrying me is, I left my phone on my desk 2m away from where I stand to practice, and I couldn't hear my phone ring at all. I nearly got scared to death when I saw I had a missed call. This is bad. Right now, everything around me seems a little quieter than usual, like there's this vacuum thats sucking out the noise. Oh and of course my high pitched sound in my ear after practice is still there (tinnitus). I think it's getting worse but I'm getting used to it at the same time, which is scary.
Theory and full dress rehearsal tomorrow. Another long day ahead.
Sabo let me take home the 2 violins to try further and ask Ms Kwok for opinions. They lent me this case that can fit 2 violins. Quite cool. But then it's quite heavy. Ok, maybe not that heavy compared to ck's 8kg giant she lugged around to Sabo's shop. 60% of my vote goes to the Cheena one. I don't know if I can trust Sabo's disciple's violin so I'll ask my teacher for opinions. But it really sounds quite good.
After that, my parents and I went to Thomson Plaza to look at the Yamaha pianos. So far most people we asked support Yamaha more. But dad and I seem to think Yamaha pianos sound dead. The only good sounding and nice touch one is the Yamaha that imitates the grand piano's functions. German pianos have a nice warm tone but the precision is not as good as Yamaha's, as well as the warranty period etc. Now my parents are deciding between Kawai and Yamaha. I support the Kawai because it sounds nice. but whether it's inner parts are precise and will last is another thing. My parents gave up on German pianos cus it was out of the budget. I think they plan to spend around 10K on us each. I think it's reasonable enough, considering they have long term lessons to pay for. I will just aim to work and earn money to get a 50k violin. That means 50 years later.
After Thomson Plaza, we went to Parkway to look at Kawai pianos. Out of my family, dad's the only one who can play the piano reasonably well. So we let him just do the playing and we throw in comments when neccessary. It's really a mystry how he can still play. He never touches our lousy keyboard at home and manags to play for church. I am impressed. If I don't touch the violin for a week, I lose some touch already. After 3 consecutive days of listening to pianos and violins (today), my ears are really dead tired and my brain is beginning to hate music.
I practiced using the Cheena violin at night. It sounded good and the response was quite fast. I found it much easier to play. But the only thing that's worrying me is, I left my phone on my desk 2m away from where I stand to practice, and I couldn't hear my phone ring at all. I nearly got scared to death when I saw I had a missed call. This is bad. Right now, everything around me seems a little quieter than usual, like there's this vacuum thats sucking out the noise. Oh and of course my high pitched sound in my ear after practice is still there (tinnitus). I think it's getting worse but I'm getting used to it at the same time, which is scary.
Theory and full dress rehearsal tomorrow. Another long day ahead.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
boring blah
Thursday:
The bulk of the day was spent having a major, annual kitchen clean up in the afternoon. Proudly organised by mom, dutifully executed by Jean and I. We spent almost 3 hours scrubbing the floor and cleaning the wall. The wall can be cleaned cus it's the tile type. It was quite dusty and mom would have screamed if she saw the amount of dust we picked up. Her cloth changed from a light grey to spots of dark grey.
We used the hose from the yard toilet to spray the water in the kitchen. But the hose is quite short so only part of the kitchen can be reached. Apart from that, we had obstacles such as the fridge and the cupboard doors to avoid (cus it's partially fake wood, so we cant wet it too much). I had to keep jumping up and down to reach the top of the wall. I realised that as the years go by, I'm able to reach more and more parts of the kitchen wall.
Then while I was busy cleaning the wall, jean was just done scrubbing the section of floor and was preparing to wash away the soap by splashing a pail of water. Then she suddenly said, "wave coming". I didn't have much time to react but managed to dodge enough to get my pants all wet. Jean should have said something like tsunami. At the end of 3 hours, I think the kitchen was cleaner much cleaner than us.
Then in the evening, Jean went to meet her new piano teacher. Her first lesson is next year. My mom and her were given a tutorial on how to choose a piano. I think we'll be going for a Yamaha or Kawaii one, but not a junior type cus it will die after grade 5. The piano teacher didn't really seem to support steinway (not sure, stein-something) and sons because the one she had spoilt fast. The keys were like popping up or down. The teacher is very structured. It's pay by month, regardless of whether you miss the lesson or not. That's a great difference compared to violin, where just pay as you go. Well, I suppose it's because she's a full time piano teacher, so cannot afford to entertain "cannot make it" statements. My violin teacher and I take turns saying we're not free, have something in school/have a concert or recording etc. So maybe that's the bright side of a full time performing teacher.
Friday:
Today, there was sectionals. The bassists and cellists called off their sectional. I had a hard time calling practically the whole ensemble. And not forgetting that I had to retrace my steps when it was revealed that some sectionals were called off. Only 4 people people came today, not including joycelyn, ck and me. The viola section is getting really powerful. I think by SYF, they'll overtake violin 2 standard. But it's really quite a happy occasion when you hear something nice coming out of the instruments. There's suddenly a sense of hope. Well, from the point of view of a section leader..
I spent part of the afternoon rehearsing worship with Jean for tomorrow. Jean is the one playing the piano, of course. I can't even manage twinkle twinkle little star properly. If only a violin were more worship user-friendly, like a piano or guitar. A hypothesis, it may not be accurate: people with less formal music training and extreme formal music training (yes, an ax2 + bx + c curve again) are able to play for congregation better, since it mostly involves improvising on chords (oh no why does this seem like baroque figured bass). There may be less technical skill required but there's the special sense of freedom and creativity, which makes what popular songs today sound like.
Oh wow. jy is online.
Then for the other part of the afternoon, I did violin practice. I got my first finger cut while practicing the cadenza. There's the activate-all-the-fingers-you-have string crossing thing at the last 3 lines. Cus the first finger usually has to press quite hard on the G-string (the fattest one) for the bass note, so I had to reach out for the notes. I used the not-so-tip of my finger to press and cus that part wasn't hardened that much yet (string players usually have hard left finger tips), the skin gave way and so it got cut. I only realised a while after practice cus I was wondering why my finger felt like something was biting it. Now I really hesitate doing violin practice tomorrow.
The bulk of the day was spent having a major, annual kitchen clean up in the afternoon. Proudly organised by mom, dutifully executed by Jean and I. We spent almost 3 hours scrubbing the floor and cleaning the wall. The wall can be cleaned cus it's the tile type. It was quite dusty and mom would have screamed if she saw the amount of dust we picked up. Her cloth changed from a light grey to spots of dark grey.
We used the hose from the yard toilet to spray the water in the kitchen. But the hose is quite short so only part of the kitchen can be reached. Apart from that, we had obstacles such as the fridge and the cupboard doors to avoid (cus it's partially fake wood, so we cant wet it too much). I had to keep jumping up and down to reach the top of the wall. I realised that as the years go by, I'm able to reach more and more parts of the kitchen wall.
Then while I was busy cleaning the wall, jean was just done scrubbing the section of floor and was preparing to wash away the soap by splashing a pail of water. Then she suddenly said, "wave coming". I didn't have much time to react but managed to dodge enough to get my pants all wet. Jean should have said something like tsunami. At the end of 3 hours, I think the kitchen was cleaner much cleaner than us.
Then in the evening, Jean went to meet her new piano teacher. Her first lesson is next year. My mom and her were given a tutorial on how to choose a piano. I think we'll be going for a Yamaha or Kawaii one, but not a junior type cus it will die after grade 5. The piano teacher didn't really seem to support steinway (not sure, stein-something) and sons because the one she had spoilt fast. The keys were like popping up or down. The teacher is very structured. It's pay by month, regardless of whether you miss the lesson or not. That's a great difference compared to violin, where just pay as you go. Well, I suppose it's because she's a full time piano teacher, so cannot afford to entertain "cannot make it" statements. My violin teacher and I take turns saying we're not free, have something in school/have a concert or recording etc. So maybe that's the bright side of a full time performing teacher.
Friday:
Today, there was sectionals. The bassists and cellists called off their sectional. I had a hard time calling practically the whole ensemble. And not forgetting that I had to retrace my steps when it was revealed that some sectionals were called off. Only 4 people people came today, not including joycelyn, ck and me. The viola section is getting really powerful. I think by SYF, they'll overtake violin 2 standard. But it's really quite a happy occasion when you hear something nice coming out of the instruments. There's suddenly a sense of hope. Well, from the point of view of a section leader..
I spent part of the afternoon rehearsing worship with Jean for tomorrow. Jean is the one playing the piano, of course. I can't even manage twinkle twinkle little star properly. If only a violin were more worship user-friendly, like a piano or guitar. A hypothesis, it may not be accurate: people with less formal music training and extreme formal music training (yes, an ax2 + bx + c curve again) are able to play for congregation better, since it mostly involves improvising on chords (oh no why does this seem like baroque figured bass). There may be less technical skill required but there's the special sense of freedom and creativity, which makes what popular songs today sound like.
Oh wow. jy is online.
Then for the other part of the afternoon, I did violin practice. I got my first finger cut while practicing the cadenza. There's the activate-all-the-fingers-you-have string crossing thing at the last 3 lines. Cus the first finger usually has to press quite hard on the G-string (the fattest one) for the bass note, so I had to reach out for the notes. I used the not-so-tip of my finger to press and cus that part wasn't hardened that much yet (string players usually have hard left finger tips), the skin gave way and so it got cut. I only realised a while after practice cus I was wondering why my finger felt like something was biting it. Now I really hesitate doing violin practice tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Bored and Snail
My parents went to IKEA and bought some stuff for home improvements. There was this thing that prevents cupboard doors from slamming. Dad assembled it and mom went to test it. After she walked out, she was smiling to herself and complimenting on the installation etc. Then went around asking Jean and I if we banged her cupboards already. I think I nearly died of shock at her rare invitation to slam her cupboards.
Most of my day is spent at home. Jean is free from NEmation. But she went out today to do a recording with her band at Methodist Music something. Mom is at home. Dad is at work as usual. My day revolves around sleeping, procrastinating about homework, eating, computer with fellow bored people, violin practice and watching a movie for the past 2 nights. We went to rent some DVDs after dinner with nai2 and ye2. There's enough to last till tonight, after which I think we'll have to do encore. Last night, we watched August Rush. It's very very very nice. About this music prodigy. Ok I shall not spoil it for those who haven't watched. It's cool how he just bangs the guitar and starts making nice music instantly. And CK is blaming me for getting her suddenly have an urge to watch it again. But anyway, it's nice. Worth re-watching.
No rehearsal tonight. Violin lesson tomorrow. I think I better spend all the time I need on violin practice this holiday before school starts again next year.
Introducing my snail:
:=@
Monday, December 08, 2008
bbllaahh part I
Haven't been able to post because I've been too tired to recall stuff to post. But since jy and I have an agreement to post, I shall complete my share. Now, As far as I can remember from this week...
I think, last Sunday, went to a French luthier's (violin/string instru maker) shop to test out some of the violins. The violins there are really good. All have a nice sound, and the set up is very very perfect. We were aiming around the 5-6K range. Then the luthier, his name is Sabo, did something I regret, He listened to me play and then recommended a 20K one. For the whole week, I couldn't, and still can't, get my mind off it. The sound is really loud and nice, brilliant, fantastic, awesome, and loud, nice, brilliant sound... I could go on if I could find enough vocabulary. Anyway, After that, I set my mind on either a high end China 6.5 that sounds quite good, or a 5.5 Euro that sounds alright as well, or if my parents don't mind, the super one.
Tuesday, got myself a finger un-extension/detension/hole. There was rehearsal at church and while trying to close a stand, I accidentally pushed too hard and it slide up my thumb. It shred off a bit of the flesh between my nail and the rest of the thumb, and bled quite a bit. I can't believe my first reaction was, oh no, how am I going to do violin practice? Of all reactions.. sigh. Then after that, had a problem counting the number of sponges. Sent Samuel on a hunt for a missing sponge when we found it still in 3A.
Wenesday, had violin lesson. Then after that, my mom made a very observant comment on Jean's and my violin playing.
Jean - Have a lot of expression, lack precision.
Me - Have precision, no expression.
Friday, sectionals, one on one with wen hsi. I think she looked more tortured than me. I made both of us stand for about 1.5 hours straight. And, it was quite hot in the building. Viola score (rutter) is quite challenging, especially when there's no E string to use. Had to climb all over the fingerboard to help Su Young with fingering. Then, played a while with the seniors.
Saturday, went to Gramercy to check out violins. Around 8.9 range for the Euro ones. I tried an Italian luthier's violin and another one his daughter made. The sound is quite good, but it was a bit hard to play. I think it's the bridge spacing that I'm not used to. But Italian sound is.. wow. The problem - it's 20 and 30K. But compared to Sabo's 20K, I don't really favour the Italian. The sound is really much nicer cus it's set up very well.
I think, last Sunday, went to a French luthier's (violin/string instru maker) shop to test out some of the violins. The violins there are really good. All have a nice sound, and the set up is very very perfect. We were aiming around the 5-6K range. Then the luthier, his name is Sabo, did something I regret, He listened to me play and then recommended a 20K one. For the whole week, I couldn't, and still can't, get my mind off it. The sound is really loud and nice, brilliant, fantastic, awesome, and loud, nice, brilliant sound... I could go on if I could find enough vocabulary. Anyway, After that, I set my mind on either a high end China 6.5 that sounds quite good, or a 5.5 Euro that sounds alright as well, or if my parents don't mind, the super one.
Tuesday, got myself a finger un-extension/detension/hole. There was rehearsal at church and while trying to close a stand, I accidentally pushed too hard and it slide up my thumb. It shred off a bit of the flesh between my nail and the rest of the thumb, and bled quite a bit. I can't believe my first reaction was, oh no, how am I going to do violin practice? Of all reactions.. sigh. Then after that, had a problem counting the number of sponges. Sent Samuel on a hunt for a missing sponge when we found it still in 3A.
Wenesday, had violin lesson. Then after that, my mom made a very observant comment on Jean's and my violin playing.
Jean - Have a lot of expression, lack precision.
Me - Have precision, no expression.
Friday, sectionals, one on one with wen hsi. I think she looked more tortured than me. I made both of us stand for about 1.5 hours straight. And, it was quite hot in the building. Viola score (rutter) is quite challenging, especially when there's no E string to use. Had to climb all over the fingerboard to help Su Young with fingering. Then, played a while with the seniors.
Saturday, went to Gramercy to check out violins. Around 8.9 range for the Euro ones. I tried an Italian luthier's violin and another one his daughter made. The sound is quite good, but it was a bit hard to play. I think it's the bridge spacing that I'm not used to. But Italian sound is.. wow. The problem - it's 20 and 30K. But compared to Sabo's 20K, I don't really favour the Italian. The sound is really much nicer cus it's set up very well.
bbllaahh part II
After that, went to Pungol Park for TF jiao you. Jean and I reached early, so we walked around the park (it's quite small) and sat at a shelter to read and wait because it was drizzling. Eventually, the rain stopped and others arrived. Around 20+ people came cus I think quite a few were on holiday. We sang some songs, played a few quite interesting games and had some free time. Some others decided to play daiti. Andrew, Rui Quan, Jean and I went to the back of the BBQ pit place. There was an empty field there. We played "monkey" - the one where 2 ppl have to jump around to get the ball, an all time childhood favourite. We got tired and went to the middle of the field where there was a pile of small rocks. So we picked them up and started seeing who could throw the furthest. Here's how the game goes. Each take turns throwing their stone, and see who reaches the end of the field first. The winners, jean and rq. Andrew and I were lagging behind. After that bit of exercise, we went back to the pit to rest. Then, a while later, it started suddenly raining really heavily. The BBQ fire was already half way started so zhi chun and some others guarded the fire with an umbrella. The rest of us grabbed everything we could find and chionged to the nearest shelter. We were already soaking wet and the shelter didn't help cus there were some other ppl inside with not much space left. So we decided to make a move for a shelter a few hundred meters further down. Thankfully, it was emptier. Everyone looked like they just got out from a shower without drying themselves. The rain eventually stopped and we headed back. The fire was still alive, as well as the ppl there. Zhi chun is a good cook. I think if it weren't for his determination to cook, we'd have a lot of leftovers. We played with the lighter and tried touching the fire etc. I did that for the first time. At first, I was quite sure the only reason why rq could touch the flame was cus his skin was special. But then, after some persuassion, I managed to get the hang of it. Playing with fire is fun. jean was busy torturing yu xin with water that melted from the ice used to keep the sparkling juice cold. She started a melting plant and used the water to give me and yu xin some cold sprinkles, as well as an ice foot wash for yx. (jean and I were one of the few wearing shoes and socks). Then suddenly, she started stuffing ice down our backs. Yu xin was making crow-like sounds, which jean recorded to analyse to see if she was a new species.
The heavy rain and all the fun and problems after that made it was one of the most memorable jiao yous. Jean and I reached home at around 11pm. I decided to wash my shoes because I couldn't take the sight of it. Ended up sleeping at around 1am.
Sunday, church. Yu xin was sitting beside me and we were almost dozing off during sunday school. Others looked quite dead in the morning. I remained sleepy till this morning.
Now, jie ying, if you read this, go post. Remember our agreement? If I didn't forget, you couldn't have.. i hope..
The heavy rain and all the fun and problems after that made it was one of the most memorable jiao yous. Jean and I reached home at around 11pm. I decided to wash my shoes because I couldn't take the sight of it. Ended up sleeping at around 1am.
Sunday, church. Yu xin was sitting beside me and we were almost dozing off during sunday school. Others looked quite dead in the morning. I remained sleepy till this morning.
Now, jie ying, if you read this, go post. Remember our agreement? If I didn't forget, you couldn't have.. i hope..
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